A lovely late summer cake! Alas, this will be the final blueberry post for the summer of '14. Not the last blueberry thing we'll eat, for sure. We freeze blueberries to use in the wintertime. They are equally good as the fresh ones in a cake like this. If you run across this recipe for Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake later on in the year, don't hesitate to use frozen berries in it. But fresh ones are what we have today. A final picking that Larry did with his Mom the other day. Blueberry ... Read More about Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake
Baking
Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
Do Moms still do this? Bake a batch of cookies while the kids are at school so that the house smells amazing when they walk through the door? Our weather seems to be making an early turn toward fall, which has me thinking about those first days of school every year, both from my own childhood, as well as the girls'. The anticipation, mingled with a bit of dread - seeing friends again, will the outfit I pick get me off to the right start, will someone be mean to them on the bus, will their ... Read More about Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
Strawberry Cheese Coffee Cake
I started work on this recipe last year, and didn't get it quite where I wanted it. Then, along came cherries, and I got distracted. I came back to it this year though, because it is definitely worth getting right, and now I am very happy with this final version. Local strawberries are just now coming into season here - we will have them for about a month or so, but no longer than that. Pick-your-own strawberry places are big around here, and I think you can find them just about anywhere. ... Read More about Strawberry Cheese Coffee Cake
Outrageous Chocolate Toffee Cookies
We are having a very happy week here at Creekside. We've all been waiting for our younger daughter and her husband to be blessed with children, and yesterday, they were very happy to welcome their new daughter into the world. Our third grandchild! Not only that, but we are especially thrilled that they now live just a few hours away, instead of 2 days' driving, so we will get to share in this life of this new little one much more than we had originally anticipated. We feel incredibly thankful ... Read More about Outrageous Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Savory Chive Cream Cheese Scones
It is a quintessentially gorgeous summer day as I am writing this. Summer has definitely taken it's time getting here, and while I can't really say this weather was worth waiting for, because: "Summer, where the heck have you been?", but I am really grateful that it's here now. One of the things I am finding out day by day is what plants were lost in last winter's brutal weather. You hold out hope that a favorite plant is just late in emerging, but eventually you have to accept that a couple of ... Read More about Savory Chive Cream Cheese Scones
Brown Butter Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb is definitely one of my favorite things in all the world, and this Brown Butter Rhubarb Cake is not the only reason. There are few things that are more rewarding to grow. Once established, it will continue to produce pretty much for the rest of your life. It is a big plant, but not unattractive, so it's not hard to find a spot for it, even in an urban setting. You have to give a couple years after first planting before picking very much, but after that, so long as you keep the flower ... Read More about Brown Butter Rhubarb Cake
Quick and Easy Chocolate Snack Cake
Snack Cakes are a very good thing to have in your bag of tricks. A snack cake implies a fast prep, probably without a mixer, and fairly simple ingredients. This Chocolate Snack Cake is all that, and results in a cake that is richer, moister and with a more refined texture than you might expect. You can thank the buttermilk for the texture, because it gives this cake a nice light rise, while it enhances the chocolate flavor. If you spend any time on this blog at all, you are probably already ... Read More about Quick and Easy Chocolate Snack Cake
Lime Buttermilk Bars
Happy Thursday! Wait - you say you aren't having a happy day? I think I know why. It's because you don't have any of these Lime Buttermilk Bars at your house. We can fix that! You will feel like spring has come to stay when you bite into one of these delightful, citrusy, creamy-on-the-top, crunchy-on-the-bottom bars. Trust me when I tell you this, because I am always truthful when it comes to dessert I have to tell you a story about the making of these bars. Well, more about the photographing of ... Read More about Lime Buttermilk Bars
Valentine Sugar Cookies
Aren't these beautiful cookies? They taste beautiful too, and of course if they don't taste good, then they have no reason to exist - at least as far as I'm concerned. I'm not the world's best cookie decorator by a long shot, but I can appreciate what goes into creating beautiful cookies. Not long ago, I was at an event, and one of the featured refreshments were sugar cookies, amazingly decorated to match the theme. They took hours to make I am sure, but after taking one bite, I started looking ... Read More about Valentine Sugar Cookies
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
I like to keep things pretty realistic here on the blog. Over the years my blogs have morphed from being stream of conscious postings, to stream of conscious plus a lot about food and photography to what you are reading now - a food and garden blog. It's a food and garden blog that is being written by a real person though, and sometimes among the cookies and flowers, real life wiggles it's way in. That is where I am this week. My Dad is having some very distressing health struggles right now, at ... Read More about Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Just a nice quick and easy recipe today: Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies. Everyone needs a good peanut butter cookie recipe, or two, or ten - right? In getting recipes moved over here from the old blog, I realized that none of my favorite peanut butter cookies have made the trip yet. Okay - one did, actually - Peanut Butter and Jelly Kisses, which are a favorite of Larry's. I like the simplicity of these though, along with the fact that they not only keep practically forever, but that they also just ... Read More about Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bundt Cake
As you are reading this today, I hope that you are enjoying memories of a wonderful Christmas. We spent it up north, as we usually do, and this year Larry's Mom went with us, as it less than a month since we lost his Dad. It has been awhile since she could travel anywhere, because Larry's Dad was ill for so long, so she had never been to our older daughter's house before. As expected, it was a bit bittersweet for her, but I think it helped her get through a difficult time a little more easily. ... Read More about Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bundt Cake